Fair competition: farm animals and their owners judged on the farm

Three of the four recently hatched eggs showed the traits of a fresh, sellable product. It was the 14-year-old McCormick's task to identify the one that didn't measure up — the one with runny egg white and a "meat spot" in its yolk.

"I spotted the meat spot," McCormick said, referring to the undesired brown speck that stands out in the sack of yellow yolk.

While the west side of the Marin County Fair features screaming-inducing rides and games for people to win stuffed animals, the east end of the fairgrounds in San Rafael have featured an array of competitions involving live animals. Or as was the case on Saturday, dead chickens.

Most competitions in the Fair's Clover Stornetta Family Farm revolve around the quality of animals being trotted around the arena, but a Saturday competition turned the focus onto the animal owners.

Seven 4H members in the senior division — 14 to 18 years old — and seven in the junior division — 13 and younger — faced off to show who is the most adept observer of poultry.

"They're judged on their judging," said Lenore Ryan, coordinator of the farm area's poultry section.

Their task was to go from station to station, identifying the qualities and flaws of chicken products one would buy in a store.

Five of the stations each featured four plates, ranging from the egg yolks to full chicken carcasses that look ready for the rotisserie.

With the whole chickens, they had to identify any flaws, such as a missing wing tip or a disjointed leg. Each of the four dozen eggs had to be inspected to make sure there were no cracks, that they were cleaned properly, and that the sizes of the eggs matched up. They also had a couple stations of identifying chicken parts.

"These are all the things consumers need to know" when shopping for chicken meat and eggs, said Tony Ryan, one of the directors of the fair's poultry operations. The competitors "have to be able to tell, can you sell this at a store?"

The most challenging station was judging the eight live chickens.

"We're basically required to check to see how well they conform to the breed," said Erin Charlton, 15, of San Rafael.

The competitors were required to pull each chicken out of its cage and inspect it for any flaws. One chicken got away and made a run for the exit, before getting caught by its should-be handler.

The results of the egg and poultry judging are being announced Sunday.

"We'll be nervous until then," McCormick said.

Elsewhere in the farm area Saturday, a more traditional farm animal show focused on dairy goats, each judged before and after being milked.

When evaluating dairy goats, judge Ben Rupchis said he is looking at a goat's body capacity, which is its depth and width, and dairy form, which is openness and angularity,

"It's really that combination of length and angularity, with depth and width, that you're looking for," said Rupchis, who oversees a dairy goat operation in Sonoma County. "The key is traits that contribute to a long, productive life," .

Rupchis judged about 65 goats on Saturday.

Throughout the fair, there have been ribbons handed out for cows, sheep, miniature goats, dogs, guinea pigs, chickens and ducks. A horse show has been running throughout the week, and on Sunday — the last day of the fair — there are sheep dog trials and a pig show.

Not all the animals in the farm area are there to be judged.

A pair of llamas have been hanging out in a canopied corral, doing leisurely things. Three Clydesdale horses and two mules have been the engines of carriage rides. Pig racing is one of the biggest draws of the farm area, along the petting zoo. And then there is Waffles, a 9-month-old miniature donkey who is the first animal people see when entering the farm area.